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RastaBrewer sez "Don't Worry Mon... Have One of Mine!"

R

RastaBrewer

Hello to all from RastaBrewer....

Been wanting to get into the fermentation game for a number of years now, and finally took the plunge last year.
I didn't want to start out with the kit-n-kilo routine since I always go overboard when starting any new hobby, so I studied for several months reading everything I could get my hands on and finally last summer decided to make my first brew... all grain.

It was my attempt to brew the recipe I found on the BYO recipe board called Hempen Ale!!! Hence the name RastaBrewer! The seeds were found at a local health food store..... REALLY!  ... Boy does the aroma of that bag take  you back...  ::)

Anyway, the beer came out great and I liked it so much I stayed with the new hobby and decided to expand my efforts into other recipes. I found the diversity of beers you can make at home so broad that it has now become a common practice around to brew at least once or twice a month. I also started brewing (making) wine and have perfected a pretty good sparkling strawberry. This hobby is great!!! ... and about that Hempen Ale??? I kept a bottle in the back of the lagering frig until Oct. 10th of this year and it was still pretty good way after it's first birthday!...Seems the hemp seeds gave it some pretty good legs ... and a pretty good 'head' too.... :-X  looks like I'll have to brew that one again soon.

You may have guessed I'm into adding herbs to my brews.  ;D  I've added fresh grown mint from the garden to a recipe from Artic Brewings "Artic Red Ale" and it was GREAT... the beer had that spearmint rush in the aftertaste just like a winter breath of cold air. You couldn't beat it on a hot July afternoon.

Well, enough of my ramblings.... one of the reasons I began looking at brewing my own was to replicate the famous "Red Stripe" brewed in Jamaica where I've been many times....  8)  but after tasting my own creations over the past year plus, I now know that the Red Stripe was, at the time, over rated. I still like the little fat bottles of brew, but now preffer my own creations. I rarely purchase production brews in the supermarket now and when I do, it is to try something completely new or to have a "calibration" beer for comparison to a clone I've done. Oh yea.... I made a clone from postings of a recipe from the northwest brewery Rogue... and the "Dead Guy Ale" was a big hit with family and friends.

My challenge now is to build a recipe/process to produce the great German Hefes that I can't seem to get the banana and clove just right for some reason...???

Oops... more ramblings....this happens when I've had a couple from the stockroom....
One last thing and I'll shut up...
I tried ProMash and wasn't completely happy with it.  A friend told me about BeerSmith and so I finally came over here and found the site and decided to register so I'd have a chance to win a copy since I don't seem to use the "other software" for lack of need.

If this intro is a little on the looooong side, please excuse me since I seem to get carried away after having a couple of good homebrews...... You know, it really is like Charlie sez..... "Relax... Don't Worry .... Have a HomeBrew".....

L8R
RastaBrewer
 
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